Power for my Shed

[mattlikesbikes]

Before we built our new 3 car garage with a shop we built a 200sf shed to use as storage and a small workshop. Now that I am moving into the garage with all my larger project we are converting the shed into an office for my wife. I don't have recent photos but we finished over a year ago,


So now that I am setting it up as an office I am going through to wire it, outlets every 6ft, a T8 fixture in the larger section and a pair of LED cans in the smaller section. I'm also wiring for a window unit out the side you cannot see here. I am wiring to a small fuse box inside, running two curcuits, window unit and lights/outlets. Since the biggest draw on the lights and outlets will be when her laptop is plugged in and the LEDs are on. The larger section will house my reloading equipment, which is all manual, so no major power.

So the question is (about time I ask), where should I run power from. You can see from the photo that we have a driveway between the house and the shed. On the other side of the driveway I have a 20amp outlet. It's the only thing on that outlet and it was originally planned to support a gate opener and a few LED lights along the driveway. But they ran it 20amp anyway. If I connect there I am looking at a 15ft dig and cutting the driveway. The driveway is the next major project and will be replaced in the next 6 months, but I need power sooner. Alternatively, behind me in the photo is the garage. There is an open spot on the breaker box. I could run a 60ft run from the garage to the shed and run it on its own breaker(s). Much more digging, but dedicated.

We will start there and we can get to the how to once I figure out which one to use.

Sorry, pulled out pictures because they would not resize.

 

[Mustang51js]

If it's easier then just come off the outlet there, you don't need two lines because I would think your putting a small ac in there and the rest of the stuff doesn't draw much. 20 amps would be plenty even if you use a heater in the winter. If you think you will need more than a 1500 watt heater in winter then better to run two circuits.

 

[2ManyProjects]

So now that I am setting it up as an office I am going through to wire it, outlets every 6ft, a T8 fixture in the larger section and a pair of LED cans in the smaller section.

I would think twice before installing a relatively powerful fluorescent light in that small space. Garages and workshops are one thing; offices are quite another, and they usually require a VERY different sort of lighting. Fluorescents mounted on low-ish ceilings can easily create "harsh" lighting which washes out computer screens, etc.; not to mention that the color-rendering and such lags behind other forms of lighting, and it's just not as "inviting" an environment.

I'm also wiring for a window unit out the side you cannot see here. I am wiring to a small fuse box inside, running two curcuits, window unit and lights/outlets.

I sure hope you do NOT mean "fuse box" literally, and are really installing a proper breaker panel, even if it is a very small one (for example: http://www.lowes.com/pd_164992-82364-BR612L125FDP_0__?productId=3015036). And in either case, I would use more branch circuits than you have described: Keep the lights and outlets segregated, for starters. And what about heat?

Since the biggest draw on the lights and outlets will be when her laptop is plugged in and the LEDs are on.

What, no printer? Or scanner? Or router for an internet connection? Maybe a small stereo system for music while she works?

"Stuff" adds up faster than you might think.

So the question is (about time I ask), where should I run power from. You can see from the photo that we have a driveway between the house and the shed. On the other side of the driveway I have a 20amp outlet. It's the only thing on that outlet and it was originally planned to support a gate opener and a few LED lights along the driveway. But they ran it 20amp anyway. If I connect there I am looking at a 15ft dig and cutting the driveway.

First, you near-certainly do NOT need to cut the driveway. You ditched the pix, so I can't tell how wide that driveway is; but there ARE ways to get a conduit under an existing paved area that don't involve ripping up the pavement.

Second, even with your presumed "limited" requirements, I would be REALLY nervous about trying to run everything in that shed/office off the existing 20A circuit. First, it obviously rules out ever putting in that gate opener and/or those driveway lights. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it limits you to 120V only in the shed/office. That in turn severely limits the size of the A/C unit (and/or heater) you can use; and while you MAY be able to find a "large enough" A/C unit which runs on 120V (just how well-insulated is that shed, anyway?), it will necessarily use twice the amps as an equivalent 240V model, which in turn puts a bigger crimp on that 20A limit -- and 'round we go again.

The driveway is the next major project and will be replaced in the next 6 months, but I need power sooner.

And would it not be nice to have some **** lights lining that nice new driveway, even if you forego the gate opener? This (i.e., while you're already re-doing the driveway) would be the time to install (or at least pre-wire for) them.

Alternatively, behind me in the photo is the garage. There is an open spot on the breaker box. I could run a 60ft run from the garage to the shed and run it on its own breaker(s). Much more digging, but dedicated.

Again, without the pix, I can't be sure; but are you talking about having room for a single-pole breaker, or a dual-pole breaker? The latter would require two adjacent "slots" in the panel.

Assuming you CAN put a dual-pole breaker into your main panel, I would vote for this solution, without question. Sure, it's more digging; but otherwise, it is superior in every way: This would allow you to run a proper four-wire 240V feeder cable out to the shed/office, and put in a real sub-panel with more than adequate capacity for whatever you might want to run out there, now or in the future. (And you need only think about how much your plans have changed since you first built the shed, or installed that 20A outlet for the gate opener, to see that it's a good bet your needs WILL change again before the end of time.)